The New York Military Academy
Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY
owned by the New York Military Academy
4/33 Moller; built and installed 1927.
New York Military Academy is a private military prep school situated on a 165 acre campus along the west bank of the Hudson River in the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson, fifty-five miles north of New York City and five miles north of West Point. Founded in 1889, the Academy serves as a college preparatory school currently enrolling about 260 cadets in grades 5 through 12. The student body has been coed since the mid 1970's. NYMA's long list of alumni includes such distinguished graduates as bandleader Les Brown, Oscar winning composer Johnny Mandel, and financier/developer Donald Trump. You can visit the New York Military Academy on the Web at: www.nyma.org.
History:
The NYMA 4-manual, 31 rank Moller pipe organ, Opus 4925 (enlarged to 33 ranks), was custom built by the M. P. Moller Company of Hagerstown, Maryland, and installed in the Academy's Davis Chapel/Auditorium when the chapel was built in 1927. The organ was dedicated in April 1928 "To Ours Who Served" at its first formal concert played by H. Leroy Baumgartner, who designed the instrument. The NYMA organ contains more than 2,000 pipes in addition to percussion instruments and special sound effects, and is the second largest theatre pipe organ in New York State, surpassed in size only by the Radio City Music Hall Wurlitzer. The organ is installed in four chambers: the main chamber to the left of the stage; the swell and solo chambers to the right; and an echo chamber in the ceiling above the balcony. A Moller Artiste player mechanism was added in 1930, but was unfortunately removed and discarded around 1962.
His tonal design accomplished its goals and resulted in the wide range of voices found in the NYMA organ that contribute to its beautiful and unique orchestral ensemble. The NYMA Moller has been in continuous use in its original setting since 1927, providing music for chapel services, school assemblies, commencement exercises and other Academy functions. During its first decade the organ was used regularly for Sunday afternoon concerts that were broadcast over local radio. In the 1930's, Roxy chief organist Lew White performed annual concerts at NYMA every Mother's Day. By the mid 1960's, however, the organ had fallen into disrepair. In 1967 two ATOS members, Tom Stehle (now curator of the organ) and John Caruthers coincidentally joined the faculty of the Academy and shortly thereafter began the volunteer project of restoring the organ. A few years later NYTOS member Bob Seeley joined the crew, and among other contributions, redesigned and rebuilt the console. Since 1971 the Academy and New York Theatre Organ Society have produced a series of theatre organ pops concerts and silent film presentations. Organists Lee Erwin, Ashley Miller, Lou Hurvitz, Dan Bellomy, Dennis James, Ralph Ringstad, Dave Kopp, Greg Owen, Jeff Barker and Paul Roberts are among the many popular artists who have performed in concert at the NYMA Mighty Moller in recent years.